MOVING THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN ISRAEL TO JERUSALEM: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 8, 2017 Serial No. 115–44 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://oversight.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 28–071 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland, Ranking Darrell E. Issa, California Minority Member Jim Jordan, Ohio Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Mark Sanford, South Carolina Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Justin Amash, Michigan Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Jim Cooper, Tennessee Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Blake Farenthold, Texas Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Thomas Massie, Kentucky Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Mark Meadows, North Carolina Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands Ron DeSantis, Florida Val Butler Demings, Florida Dennis A. Ross, Florida Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Mark Walker, North Carolina Jamie Raskin, Maryland Rod Blum, Iowa Peter Welch, Vermont Jody B. Hice, Georgia Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvania Steve Russell, Oklahoma Mark DeSaulnier, California Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Jimmy Gomez, California Will Hurd, Texas Gary J. Palmer, Alabama James Comer, Kentucky Paul Mitchell, Michigan Greg Gianforte, Montana SHERIA CLARKE, Staff Director ROBERT BORDEN, Deputy Staff Director WILLIAM MCKENNA General Counsel ARI WISCH, Professional Staff Member KILEY BIDELMAN, Clerk DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY Ron DESANTIS, Florida, Chairman Steve Russell, Oklahoma, Vice Chair Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts, Ranking John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Minority Member Justin Amash, Michigan Val Butler Demings, Florida Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Peter Welch, Vermont Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Mark DeSaulnier, California Jody B. Hice, Georgia Jimmy Gomez, California James Comer, Kentucky Vacancy (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on November 8, 2017 ........................................................................ 1 WITNESSES The Hon. John Bolton, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 5 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 7 The Hon. Dore Gold, President, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 14 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 16 Mr. Morton Klein, President, Zionist Organization of America Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 24 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 26 Dr. Michael Koplow, Policy Director, Israel Policy Forum Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 49 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 51 Mr. Eugene Kontorovich, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 55 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 57 APPENDIX Statement for the record of Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, submitted by Rank- ing Member Lynch ............................................................................................... 88 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER MOVING THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN ISRAEL TO JERUSALEM: CHALLENGES AND OPPOR- TUNITIES Wednesday, November 8, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:05 a.m., in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ron DeSantis [chair- man of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives DeSantis, Duncan, Amash, Foxx, Hice, Comer, Lynch, Welch, and DeSaulnier. Also Present: Representatives Jordan, Zeldin, Ross, Mast, Grothman, Meadows, and Issa. Mr. DESANTIS. The Subcommittee on National Security will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act, which states that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, that it should remain an undivided city, and that the American Embassy should be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Yet, for more than 20 years, U.S. Presidents have signed waivers for stalling the Em- bassy move. To this day, 50 years after the liberation and reunification of Je- rusalem, the State of Israel, one of America’s strongest allies, is the only nation in the world in which the American Government re- fuses to locate its Embassy in the host nation’s chosen capital. Now, as a candidate for President, Donald Trump promised to move the Embassy to Jerusalem, and he has reaffirmed that com- mitment since taking office. And there are good reasons why the President will follow through with his commitment. For one thing, U.S. policy should recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish peo- ple for thousands of years and is the beating heart of modern Israel. Why should we reject the chosen capital city of a close ally? Second, Israel’s stewardship of Jerusalem’s holy sites has been tremendous, especially regarding religious freedom. During the Arab occupation of the Old City of Jerusalem, between 1949 and 1967, Jews were systematically discriminated against and Chris- tians were treated as second class citizens. Most of the Old City’s synagogues were destroyed or desecrated. Under Israeli sov- (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:17 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\28071.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 ereignty, religious freedom is the rule, and the holy sites, Chris- tian, Jewish, and Muslim, are treated with care and respect. The disrepair that plagued Jerusalem under Arab occupation has given way to a flourishing city that is one of the world’s crown jewels. Third, following through with the commitment to move the Em- bassy will demonstrate American leadership. Leaders in the Middle East respect the strong horse, and acting with decisiveness to de- fend American interests and to stand by a close ally is far more preferable to defaulting on a key promise like past leaders have done. Fourth, the Embassy can be relocated to one of the sites in Jeru- salem that the U.S. already controls. This can be as simple as changing the sign on one of the existing consulates. For example, the consulate annex in Arnona combined eventually with the adja- cent Diplomat Hotel can be a sizeable complex that provides ade- quate security. That the annex in Arnona straddles the 1949 armi- stice line also counsels in its favor as a potential site. The Trump administration has delayed moving the Embassy in light of its efforts to pursue a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, but there are incremental steps that the Trump administration could take in the meantime. The State Department should allow Americans born in Jeru- salem to list Jerusalem/Israel on their passports. The U.S. Ambas- sador should make a point to conduct at least part of his workweek from Jerusalem, and the American consulates in Jerusalem should report to the American Embassy in Israel, not directly to the State Department. Now some say the U.S. can’t move its Embassy to Jerusalem be- cause that enrage elements of the so-called Arab street and provide a pretext for acts of terrorism. And who knows? That may be true, but does it make sense to shirk from doing what is right for fear of what our enemies might do? With the advent of the Trump administration, the U.S.-Israel re- lationship is probably stronger than it has ever been. Our countries have shared security interests, common cultural ties, and mutually beneficial economic relationships. Relocating the Embassy to Jeru- salem, especially if done in 2017, the 50th year anniversary of Je- rusalem Day, will make the relationship that much stronger. I want to welcome our distinguished panel